Elbert
Hubbard in front of his home and the site of the future Roycroft Inn.
Circa 1896.

C.
1930 postcard

First
Roycroft Shop 1897-1900

Elbert Hubbard
(1857-1915), the individual responsible for the development of the
grounds and buildings known as the "Roycroft Campus," started working
for the Larkin Soap Company in 1875 as the junior partner in charge of
sales and advertising. In 1893, he left the Larkin Company's employ
and, sustained by a sizable monetary settlement from the company,
pursued his goal to become a writer. He first earned literary notoriety
from his stories entitled "Little Journeys," based on visits to the
homes of famous people.

In 1899, less than two
years after Hubbard began creating the Roycroft Campus, he was
propelled to worldwide fame and renewed financial wealth with the
publication of his essay entitled, "A Message to Garcia." The
"Message," which stressed loyalty to one's benefactor, was so popular
and so frequently reprinted by businesses and institutions, that it
became one of the world's most widely published literary works
alongside the Bible and the dictionary. As a direct result of this
success, he was able to further augment his development of the Roycroft
Campus.

Hubbard's first wife, Bertha
Crawford Hubbard (1861-1935), aided in the development of her
husband's literary style, as well as in the creation of the initial
Roycroft Campus and the ensuing arts and crafts produced here.

Hubbard's second wife, Alice
Moore Hubbard (1861-1915), managed the Roycroft Shops in later
years and was renowned as an accomplished author and passionate
proponent of women's rights.

Both Elbert and Alice
perished on the S.S. Lusitania when it sank off the coast of Ireland on
May 7, 1915 after being torpedoed by a German U-boat.

Hubbard's first
printing experience was with The Philistine magazine, a
publication initially produced in cooperation with Henry P. Taber and
William McIntosh in early 1895 at the Pendennis Press, White &
Wagoner Company, located in the Regulator Building on East Main Street
in East Aurora. Hubbard acquired ownership of The Philistine
magazine and the Roycroft Press from Taber on November 19, 1895.

Although this
periodical was controversial, it became immensely popular as evidenced
by its eventual subscription base of over one hundred thousand readers.
In 1896, Hubbard continued the Roycroft printing operations at the
Regulator Building with the publication of the first Roycroft book,
"The Song of Songs."

By 1898, all printing
operations moved to this South Grove Street location -- today the
Roycroft Inn --where the production of limited edition, signed and
numbered, master-crafted books continued. Hubbard's publishing business
flourished, in part, due to his claims that the exclusivity of Roycroft
books would increase their value over time. During the forty-three year
existence of the Roycroft under Hubbard family leadership, an array of
handcrafted objects, ranging from simplistically refined to
artistically complex, were fabricated with European undertones in
product lines of furniture, copper and iron wares, leather items,
textiles, basketry, pottery and fine arts. Additionally, the Roycroft
printing and bookbinding operation grew to be one of the most
recognized private printing institutions in America.

The portion of the Roycroft Inn
located directly to the left where guests enter through the heavy,
motto-carved, oak door leading from the peristyle, or porch, into
the Inn was initially the only structure at this location and the first
to be constructed on the Campus. Hubbard's original intent with this
building was to create a medieval guild-like, arts and crafts and
printing institution, in similarity to revival establishments prevalent
in England during the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

From 1897 to 1900, this
original portion of the Roycroft Inn was simply known as the Roycroft
Shop, or Chapel, in accordance with the historical
definition of the word "chapel" as a place of printing.

Groundbreaking
commenced October 12, 1897 and construction costs of just over three
thousand dollars provided for the original structure to be styled in
the fashion of St. Oswald's Church in Grasmere, England. This country Gothic style was reminiscent of
the architecture Hubbard encountered during a series of trips he took
to Europe in the 1890's.

The most notable of
these journeys, where he obtained many of his ideas, was his tour of
the famed Kelmscott Press in England, where he claimed to have met its
renowned founder, William
Morris.

The first shop's
exterior appearance was characterized in the local newspaper as,
"shingled and stained the color of slate with a moss green roof
surmounted by a small cupola."
It was completed and ready for use as a print shop during the week of
January 15, 1898.

Two years later, it was
converted into the Phalanstery dining room. In 1905, it housed
the Roycroft Bank and may also have served, in part, as a
cabinet shop between the printing operation's relocation to the new
Roycroft Print Shop across the street in 1900-1901 and the construction
of the Furniture Shop in 1904. The structure became the Roycroft
Inn Reception Room about the time the Inn opened in 1905.

One of the most dramatic
configurations added to this structure was the three-story, tower
attachment located at the rear of the first building. This addition
contained a roof top cupola
that architecturally complimented the arched Gothic windows in the original
structure's design.

The interior decor of
the entire complex boasted wainscoting
accented with medieval-inspired, gas light fixtures and fireplaces of
stone and brick crafted by Roycroft artisans. The hearths were equipped
with andirons
wrought by Roycroft blacksmiths in the fashion of artist W. W. Denslow's seahorse emblem,
a symbol with which the Roycroft name eventually became synonymous.

The large basement of
the structure originally housed the printing presses, while the three
rooms in the tower served as work-quarters for book illuminators,
illustrators and artists before their eventual move to the new Chapel
that was to be built across the street.

The first Roycroft art
director, Samuel Warner, designed most of the early title pages of
Roycroft books and also aided in the development of the graphic arts
department. Renowned Roycroft book illuminators and illustrators
included: Alta Fattey, Minnie Gardner, Beulah Hood, Bertha Hubbard,
Lawrence Mazzanovich, Harriet Robarge, Clare Schlegel and famed "Wizard
of Oz" artist W.W. Denslow, when in residence. The first floor of the
tower room was originally called the Oak Room and was used for china
painting, a craft excelled in by Hubbard's first wife Bertha, and
fellow artists, Clara Schlegel and Alta Fattey.

With the 1903-05
reconfiguration period of the Inn, the first floor became the Library,
the second floor became special guests quarters known as the Morris
Room, the third floor became the Ruskin
Room, another special guest room and the basement became the kitchen.

1898-99 (First Book Bindery - Later the Roycroft Inn
Dining Room)

The portion of the
Inn adjacent to the right side of the tower, directly in front of the
placard and behind the Peristyle and glass enclosed portion of the
building, originally served as the area for book assembly, collation
and binding. This space became the Roycroft Dining Room when the Inn
opened in 1905.

1899/00

Off the rear of
what eventually became the Dining Room was another addition that
initially served as workspace for the rapidly expanding printing and
binding operations. The area became part of the Roycroft Inn dining
facility in later years.

Phalanstery - 1900
Roycroft Inn - 1905

In 1900, with the
construction of both the Roycroft Chapel and the Print Shop across the
street, Elbert Hubbard implemented his visionary dream of converting
the original Roycroft Shop into the "Phalanstery," meaning "The Home of
Friends," where both workers and Campus guests could socialize and be
housed.

By
March 1903, Hubbard began referring to the property as an "Inn," based,
in part, on the facility's interior configuration of thirty-eight
sleeping rooms and one hundred-seat dining room.

In May
of 1905, the building was officially bestowed with the full fledged
title of "The Roycroft Inn," a vanguard to the thousands of Campus
visitors which the Inn would subsequently house and entertain each year.

The
menus offered to the Inn guests were created under the direction of
Roycroft staff members "Mother" (Ellen) Grant and at a later time, Bob
Lea. Meals were prepared using fruits, vegetables, milk, butter, cream,
eggs and grains grown and cultivated at the Roycroft Farm.

For
many years Martha Young held the position of supervising the Inn and
its many functions.

1903-05 (Roycroft Inn Sleeping Rooms, Peristyle &
Salon)

When Hubbard and
his first wife, Bertha, moved to East Aurora in 1894 they purchased
"The Alberta" house, originally located to the right of the placard and
seventy feet to the right of what was the first Roycroft Shop. Here the
Hubbards lived with their four children, Elbert Jr., Ralph, Sanford and
Katherine, until the house was partially razed and incorporated into a
three-story sleeping room addition to the already existing complex. It
was a renovation that ultimately provided the Inn with an increased
number of guest rooms, many of which offered outdoor sleeping
apartments and private baths.

Roycroft
Architect James Cadzow, who supervised the Inn's construction, designed
the large ground level room in the front section of the building as a
grand Salon, or Music Room. This open area served as a lecture hall for
Hubbard and special guest speakers, as well as a performance venue for
regularly scheduled music concerts that were conducted for many years
by Rudolph Van Liebich.

The
Salon was noteworthy for its technologically advanced use of indirect
lighting and also for its aesthetic beauty highlighted by a series of
frieze murals encompassing the room, created by renowned artist Alex
Fournier. It took Fournier two years to
complete the artwork, which depicted the eight man-made wonders of the
world. The Roycroft Campus, of course, being the eighth.

The
guest rooms in the Inn were not identified by number, but rather were
distinguished by wooden placards carved with the names of famous
people. The Peristyle, or porch, along the front of this building was
constructed in similarity to Frank Lloyd Wright structures dating from
this period. The significance of the design being the more contemporary
Prairie Style of architecture
offered in contrast to the initial Gothic, medieval,
influence of earlier Roycroft structures. Eventually, many of the
Gothic architectural elements of this building were eliminated
including removal of the tower cupola after the Roycroft Inn opened in
1905.

In
1904, the talented young artisan, Dard Hunter arrived on the
Campus and within the span of one year began creating book title pages.
Additionally, Hunter took charge of designing electric light
chandeliers made of copper, with cutout heart motifs for the new
Roycroft Inn, replacing the iron, medieval looking gas fixtures.
Further remodeling included the installation of wall coverings
fashioned of green burlap and seamed together with leather strips and
large brass tacks, which hid the original Victorian wainscoting Hubbard
outfitted the Inn with Roycroft furniture and accessories, which he
accented with cut glass, Grueby, Teco and other art potteries, as well
as Navajo rugs. After the Inn opened, Hubbard claimed to have invested
over one hundred thousand dollars in the makeover.

1907 (Additional Roycroft Inn Sleeping rooms, additional
Peristyle)

At the back
section of the Inn, Roycroft carpenter William Roth added five
additional sleeping rooms. In the front of the building the Peristyle
was extended to include the entire street side of the Guest House that
is located to the left of the Inn. A separate portion of Peristyle was
also built to accommodate guests as they walked from the Reception Room
to the Salon, an area that now appears as a glass enclosed Peristyle
portion of the Inn, directly behind the placard, beyond both the
foreground Peristyle and the courtyard.

Intermittently
during the years from 1905 to 19007, Hunter redesigned the Inn's Gothic
windows by replacing the glass with Glasgow School and Viennese
Secessionist-inspired leaded glass designs. Upon his return from
Vienna, Austria, in 1908, Hunter began replacing all the light fixtures
in the public rooms of the Inn as well, updating them with stylized
leaded glass designs of Viennese Secessionist art forms.

1909 (Alice's Office and Screened Dining Porch)

The Inn's
Reception Room, located to the left, was remodeled and enlarged further
to the left to accommodate an office for Alice Hubbard. It was here
that master artisan Frederick Kranz created a wide frieze of Art Nouveau modeled leather,
depicting elaborately detailed roses. During this same period, the
section of Peristyle in front of the dining room (facing the placard)
that connected the Reception Room to the Salon was screened in for
outdoor dining use.

1913 (Enclosed Dining Porch)

The screens were
removed and the Dining Porch was glass enclosed.

1920 (Enclosed Sun
Porch)

The final Roycroft
Inn addition involved the glass enclosure of the far right side of the
Peristyle for use as a wicker furnished sun parlor.

The Inn is now owned by a
nonprofit organization and reopened in 1995 with an excellent
collection of original and reproduction pieces that compliment the
meticulously restored building. The inn is now a fully functioning
hotel, boasting 22 suites that offer a perfect blend of historical
authenticity and modern luxury, as well as fine dining for lunch,
dinner and banquets.

The nomination for listing on the National Register of Historic Places,
containing text and illustrations, is online. Go
to Document
Imaging for National Register. Click on "Basic Criteria" and scroll
down to "County - Erie." Then, click on "Results."